h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

the use of dog to mean ugly is still going on--in fact, I was amazed at the brittish terms some of us Americans were having problems with. I grew up with most of them, and I'm pretty sure I used 'Whilst' in conversation last night.

Oh well. ust prooves, yet again, that I had a more than abnormal upbringing.

Triv

*pauses to stare into the middle distance while imagining himself at the wheel of one of these beauties*

If it hadn't existed it would be necessary to invent that shape. Just beautiful. Nothing since has matched it.

Ah yes - but what it came from (the C and D type racers) where works of beauty...and the prewar racing Mercs...etc...
I'm sure I've written about this in "The most beautiful car ever" off the call for entries on cars page...I'll just check

I imagine myself in a Jaguar saloon - perhaps the Daimler, with the lovely crinkly grill - no longer an American girl, but an English lady, wrapped in un-PC furs, sophisticated and sensuous.

I slip out of the leather-clad rear, nodding to the chauffeur: "I say, that was the pup's, young man! Take the car home, and have the night off. I'll be using the XK8 for the rest of the evening."

I quickly disappear in a haze of inexplicably provocative curves.

Been away for a while so I've missed the appearance of a couple of things, so - combining new animals & stinginess:
"He's as tight as a fish's arse - and that's watertight."

The thought of Milady Kaeori and her chauffeur reminds me of the old story:
The lady of the manor's motor car grumbled to a halt. The chauffeur alighted and opened the bonnet (!) and began to disturb the contents. The Lady enquired: "Do you want a screwdriver?" and received the reply: "That's very kind Madam, but I'd better fix the engine first."

Naughty!

I have always wanted to be Lady Penelope, she of Thunderbirds fame. Only my chauffeur would be Sean Connery.

Yesh Milady

Have a look at
http://pages.prodigy.com/NY/NYC/britspk/main.html
(I wish I knew how to hyperlink)

You do know how to hyperlink

Anyway - the dictionary doesn't seem to have any 'dogs' at all - clearly it needs to be updated.

It seems you could fill a whole dictionary just with doggy slang. Would anyone buy it, though.

Get the Rolls ready, Parker...

Yes, too clever for my own good. If I'd previewed before posting, I'd have realised that.
No dogs, and one or two other things I disagree with, but it's better than the "Understanding British English" book I recommended above. Just shows that this thread, or something similar, has to be kept going.

One thing still puzzling me: why does the dog's breakfast distinguish itself for a saying, and not its lunch?

And have I heard 'dog's dinner', or am I beginning to imagine doggy phrases?

I think dogs dinner and breakfast are used for the same thing. Mind you, I can't recall hearing dogs breakfast used at the moment, but that doesn't mean it isn't. As to dogs lunch, if you feed your dog that often it will get fat!

Sorry to interrupt all the doggy discussion, but as a soon-to-be cat owner again, what cat phrases are there?

Cat's whiskers...raining cats and dogs...cat got your tongue...let the cat out of the bag...like a cat out of hell...cat on a hot tin roof...

Come to think of it, quite a few really. Maybe I should have thought before asking.

The only immediately inexplicable one is "cat got your tongue?".

Any ideas?

*Nerdy looks slightly abashed, and, as always, a little unsure of himself*

"You're like the cat that got the cream" - used when someone looks unnaturally happy/smug.

"The cats pyjamas" - Something that is just the best. similar to the cats whiskers and the dogs, which started this thread all those posts ago.

A cat's eye is a type of marble (as in playing marbles) but isn't there some other connotation to "Cat's Eye"? Just wanted to be the 236th posting....
PLT,Mick.

"Cats eyes" are the prysmic reflectors in the centre of the road which keep you from crashing into oncoming traffic when its a real pea-souper of an evening.

What about room to swing a cat? Not really much to do with felines though.

Kaeori,
In this corner of N.W. England, the phrase:
"Done up like a D D" indicates someone who is V. smartly and possibly slightly overdressed.
When we had dogs they didn't get lunch unless they stole ours - which they frequently did, as they were whippets. (Which inadvertently reminds me of the expression "Whip it quick" indicating, variously, a person who moved swiftly or someone adept in pocketing the property of others. Any suggestions on this, anyone?)
As to "Dog's breakfast", over the years we have had numerous less identifiable dogs which - unlike whippets - didn't eat all of their meals (tea, supper, whatever) immediately and they tended to eat the leftovers in the morning, usually after the plates had been knocked over or trodden in by their bleary eyed human companions. Could we have a theory here?
We've now got cats. They're always demanding food and not only from us. We keep on finding neighbours who say what nice cats they are: always popping in for cuddle and a bowl of milk and a slice of ham or spoonful of salmon! I ask you! Salmon and ham! There are at least four houses they patronise at various times. I think they've probably got the menus sussed.
Bl**dy cats.

According to Bill Bryson in "Mother Tongue" no one knows where "dog" came from.
Nearly all words in English can be traced back to their root (Latin French Anglo Saxon etc) but Mr Bryson says that "dog" just appeared a couple of hundred years age and replaced "hound".
Good book - recommend it